2,227 tourists arrive in Sharm al Sheikh airport Friday: source

CAIRO: As many as 2,227 tourists from different countries arrived at Sharm al Sheikh Airport Friday aboard 50 international flights, an official source at the airport told Youm7.

The majority of tourists are from Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Germany and Britain, said the sources, adding that the airport also received 10 domestic flights carrying 675 Egyptians and tourists who were sightseeing touristic attractions in Cairo and Luxor.

Occupancy rate at Sharm al-Sheikh Hotels reached 37 percent, according to the source.

Meanwhile, the source said 6,766 tourists have departed the airport on board of 37 international flights.

Following the Oct. 31 crash that killed 224 passengers and crew, swift decisions were taken by a number of countries including Germany, Russia, France and the UK to evacuate their tourists from the resort town, after reports that a bomb may have been the cause.

”The figures of holidaymakers arrival to Egypt does not mean the tourism industry is not badly affected by the plane crash. It simply means most of those who are still arriving to Hurghada and Sharl al-Sheikh may have not been able to cancel their confirmed bookings,” a tourism manager in a Sharm al-Sheikh travel agency told The Cairo Post last week.